U.S. stock futures traded mixed on Friday after three consecutive days of gains, with S&P 500 futures edging higher amid rising earnings optimism and signs of easing U.S.-China trade tensions.

The first quarter earnings report of Google-parent Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) topped estimates, adding to investor confidence following weeks of uncertainty.

U.S. 10-Year Treasury yields stood at 4.3% and 2-Year Treasury yields at 3.80%. According to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool predictions, there is a 95.3% chance of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged during its next meeting in May.

Cues From Last Session:

Economic data was largely mixed on Thursday, with the Initial Jobless Claims report at 220,000, against a forecast of 222,000, while Existing Home Sales came in at 4.03 million, falling short of the median forecast at 4.13 million.

All S&P 500 sectors advanced on Thursday, barring consumer staples, which declined 0.88% owing to the lackluster earnings of PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble during the day.

As of Thursday, the Nasdaq 100 was down 13.5% from its previous high of 22,222.61 points, the S&P 500 was down 10.8% from a high of 6147.43 points, and finally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 11% from its high of 45,073.63.

Insights From Analysts:

Market analyst, Ryan Detrick, highlighted the fact that the S&P 500 has risen by at least 1.5% for three trading days in a row, saying that, “This isn’t stuff you see in bear market rallies or short covering rallies.”

“You see this before times of strong performance,” he says, “higher 10 out of 10 times a year later and up 21.6% on average,” each time you see three consecutive daily gains of 1.5% or more in the S&P 500.

Upcoming Economic Data:

Here’s what investors will be looking at on Friday,

• The Consumer Sentiment (Final) report is set to be released at 10 AM Eastern Time on Friday.

Stocks In Focus:

Commodities, Gold And Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures are trading down 0.68% in the early New York session on Friday, at $62.63 per barrel.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) is up 0.37%, trading at 99.74, while gold spot prices continue to witness a pullback, trading at 3,299.63, down 1.08%.

Asian markets edged higher on Friday, with the Nikkei 225, Kospi, and Shenzhen ending the day in the green, along with Australia’s ASX 200. India’s Nifty 50 and the Sensex are ending the week down.

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